65 'Cuda: Reverse thread wheels?!

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sfcuda

sfcuda

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yeah. The tire tech at the shop had no idea my 65 Cuda had reverse thread bolts, so he snapped one of 'em off my left rear wheel core before he did anything else.

I had to get on 'em to get it fixed, but they said the reverse sbp bolts were next to impossible to find. The solution: replace the bolts on my LEFT REAR WHEEL with RIGHT hand thread bolts instead of LEFTY bolts.
(no, I won't be going back to that shop)

OK..so now I just bought some 15 x 6 Cragars online, and I need lugs. NOW I'm hearing only the right hand side of the 65 'Cuda had right hand lugs..and the left had lefty threaded lugs. Is this true? the Newstalgia guy wasn't even sure.

I need to know how many of right and left threaded lugs to get..
(and btw..anyone know why did they created this weird reverse thread setup?)
 
Mopars used left hand lugs until 1970 on the driver's side of the car. (Remember: turn the lug wrench towards the rear of the car to loosen) They studs are marked "L" and "R" to clarify.

You must always tell any tire shops this. Some older places still know...newer places...not so much. I stay away from the new chains anyways after an idiot busted off my ralley wheel center trying to pry it off..even after I told them they don't pry off...I made them buy me a new one.

The idea was that if a lug nut/bolt was loose that they wouldn't come off. Theoretically they would tighten over time instead of loosen.
 
PlymouthFury said:
Mopars used left hand lugs until 1970 on the driver's side of the car. (Remember: turn the lug wrench towards the rear of the car to loosen) They studs are marked "L" and "R" to clarify.

You must always tell any tire shops this. Some older places still know...newer places...not so much. I stay away from the new chains anyways after an idiot busted off my ralley wheel center trying to pry it off..even after I told them they don't pry off...I made them buy me a new one.

The idea was that if a lug nut/bolt was loose that they wouldn't come off. Theoretically they would tighten over time instead of loosen.
Click to expand...

ahh..NOW It makes sense. thanks!
 
PlymouthFury said:
Mopars used left hand lugs until 1970 on the driver's side of the car. (Remember: turn the lug wrench towards the rear of the car to loosen) They studs are marked "L" and "R" to clarify.
Click to expand...

I think it was up to 1972 when they changed (Feds made them change).
 
I have the same problem with my 67 fish car. Every time I take it to a tire shop I have to hang around and specifically tell them it's an old Mopar and it has left-handed threads on the left side. The older guys know but the young guys just look at me like I've lost my mind.... duh! The studs are easily available but not as readily as they used to be.
 
It's not just current tire shops and younger workers!
Back in 1970, I took my '69 340 Swinger into a highly reputable Goodyear store in Whittier, CA, to put some G60-14 Polyglas GT tires on the back - best performance street tires available 40 years ago.
The tire tech broke two lugs on the left rear trying to remove the lug nuts on my Cragar S/S wheels before I found out what he was doing. He never came to tell me or the manager. I kept hearing the impact hammering at something and went to go see what was going on.
He wasn't happy when he had to replace the lugs in the brake drums and the store manager sure wasn't happy with what he'd done.
That's when I started standing out front of the work bay and watching everytime any of my cars has gone in for any type of work.
 
I have been just taking the wheels off and taking them in. They can't jack them up that way. Though they don't clean the beed so some times they don't like to hold air. I try to tell them it is a 40 year old steel wheel and need cleand. But.......
 
sfcuda said:
ahh..NOW It makes sense. thanks!
Click to expand...

No problem!

I found out the hard way years ago when I bought my '57 Plymouth. I tried my damn hardest to get those bolts loose...wouldn't budge. That's when I noticed the "L" on each bolt head...

Prior to '62 (I believe) Mopars used lug bolts instead of studs and nuts.
 
A few years back I took my car in to the local tire chain store. One of those places where they don't allow people back in the shop..... I told 'em it had left hand lug nuts so be careful. Sat around out front for what seemed like a long time but they finally pulled the car around front. I paid and went home happy. (for a couple of days) When I got around to checking the wheel torque the front wheel loosened. That's when I noticed it had new studs and nuts. I went back to the shop steaming! They denied everything. Wouldn't even consider that THEIR tech could bust off the studs. So I went to the Oreilly right next door to see if they had the proper left hand studs and they told me they had been discontinued, but that they had the right hand in stock. So out of curiosity I asked them how many they had. The guy checked the computer and said they were temporarily out of stock as they sold the five they had a couple of days previous. Lesson learned......DO NOT let anyone work on any part of my car except me!

When I related this event to a friend he told me he takes duct tape with "LEFT HAND THREAD" written on it with a mrker and sticks it on his lug nuts whenever he has tire work done as he had a similar experience.
 
grimreaper said:
A few years back I took my car in to the local tire chain store. One of those places where they don't allow people back in the shop..... I told 'em it had left hand lug nuts so be careful. Sat around out front for what seemed like a long time but they finally pulled the car around front. I paid and went home happy. (for a couple of days) When I got around to checking the wheel torque the front wheel loosened. That's when I noticed it had new studs and nuts. I went back to the shop steaming! They denied everything. Wouldn't even consider that THEIR tech could bust off the studs.
Click to expand...


This is why now anytime a shop says I cant be near my car I leave. The idiots at "Discount Tire" busted my ralley center cap trying to take it off...instead of telling me about it, they just put the new tires on and put the center cap back on. Its only when I got home did I notice the center cap was all cracked and mangled. I called them back immediately and drove the car back...After the manager inspected it he said he'd find a replacement part. I told him I highly doubt that. The guy would never call me back as promised. I ended up going back after a month of BS phone calls. He gave me the excuse of still not finding the part...I ended up making them cut me a check for $100 since I made my case very noticeable to all the customers coming in...
 
I'm close to putting new rotors on my 70. I'm replacing the LH with RH when I do it. Rock auto has them for about $1.25 each. If you can't find some LH I would be happy to give you a set of 5 when I do it. Probably next week.
 
It was the Mopar engineers that finally gave up on the LH thread for the left side of the car. I worked for Firestone in 1972, and we replaced a lot of studs that were broken off by forgetting the LH thread pattern.
 
hcharles said:
It was the Mopar engineers that finally gave up on the LH thread for the left side of the car...
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ya, years ago when i learned that, it was my first life lesson of how things are dumbed down instead of expecting people to improve :puke:
 
I lucked out because of the LH threads. I was looking for 10" spindles and all were gone except for this one car that still had both front wheels on. Seems over time the drums got reversed to the LH was on the right and the RH was on the left. Since no one figured it out they were sitting waiting for me. The spindles are on now with 11" rotors and 17" Torque Thrusts. I put a 8-3/4" with 10" drums on the back and the thing stops on a dime. Thanks Ma Mopar for the LH threads.
 
slantsixdan said:
Nope and nope. 1971 was the first year for all right-handed wheel lugs on Mopars, and there wasn't and isn't any Federal standard on the thread direction of wheel lugs.
Click to expand...

Would that be the model year or the calendar year? I have an early 71 that has the original 8-3/4 with LH studs. The front drums (original from what I was told) are both RH. The RH studs are marked R on them, and the LH - L of course.

I figure its just using up left over assemblies.

Grant
 

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